ore were still wet with her feet
where she had gone up from the water.

But now, as he swam and sported in the sun-warmed pool he deemed he
heard the whinnying of a horse, but was not sure, so he held himself
still to listen, and heard no more. Then he laughed and bethought him
of Falcon his own steed, and dived down under the water; but as he came
up, laughing still and gasping, he heard a noise of the clatter of
horse hoofs, as if some one were riding swiftly up the further side of
the grassy table, where it was stony, as he had noted when they passed
by.

A deadly fear fell upon his heart as he thought of his love left all
alone; so he gat him at once out of the water and cast his shirt over
his head; but while his arms were yet entangled in the sleeves thereof,
came to his ears a great and awful sound of a man's voice roaring out,
though there were no shapen words in the roar. Then were his arms free
through the sleeves, and he took up the bow and fell to bending it, and
even therewith he heard a great wailing of a woman's voice, and she
cried out, piteously: "Help me, O help, lovely creature of God!"

Yet must he needs finish bending the bow howsoever his heart died
within him; or what help would there be of a naked and unarmed man? At
last it was bent and an arrow nocked on the string, as he leapt over
the river and up the slope.

But even as he came up to that pleasant place he saw all in a moment of
time; that there stood Silverfax anigh the Cave's mouth, and the Lady
lying on the earth anigh the horse; and betwixt her and him the Knight
of the Sun stood up stark, his shining helm on his head, the last rays
of the setting sun flashing in the broidered image of his armouries.

He turned at once upon Ralph, shaking his sword in the air (and there
was blood upon the blade) and he cried out in terrible voice: "The
witch is dead, the whore is dead! And thou, thief, who hast stolen her
from me, and lain by her in the wilderness, now shalt thou die, thou!"

Scarce had he spoken than Ralph drew his bow to the arrow-head and
loosed; there was but some twenty paces betwixt them, and the shaft,
sped by that fell archer, smote the huge man through the eye into the
brain, and he fell down along clattering, dead without a word more.

But Ralph gave forth a great wail of woe, and ran forward and knelt by
the Lady, who lay all huddled up face down upon the grass, and he
lifted her up and laid her gently on her back